Surprise, ARIZ.- The Spirit win a nail-biter in their regular season finale against GSAC rival Arizona Chritian (15-17 OVR, 3-11 GSAC) 3-2 on Friday. The win moves the Spirit to 16-8 overall, and their conference record to 10-4 which locks them into the third seed in the GSAC Tournament.
Set 1:
The Spirit dominated the first to earn a 25-16 set victory. Lauren Wamsley led the way with six kills, followed by Kaitlin Brown with three kills, and Katy Shockey with two kills. Amey Rainaud added to two service aces, with Reegan Shoquist adding a service ace of her own in the winning effort.
Set 2:
After a great comeback, the Spirit fell short in the second set, with a 27-25 set loss, evening the match at 1-1. Wamsley led the way with four kills, with Brown and Nina Peay having two kills each. Wamsley and Beatriz Paolinetti each had a service ace in the effort.
Set 3:
The Firestorm would win the third set with a score of 28-26 to give them a 2-1 lead. Pearce led the team with six kills, followed by Shockey with five kills, with Wamsley and Brown each adding two kills as well.
Set 4:
The Spirit responded to take the fourth set 25-20, tying the match at 2-2, and forcing a fifth set. Pearce once again led the Spirit with six kills, followed by Shockey and Wamsley with three kills each, and Brown with two kills. Rainaud added two more service aces to her match total along with Paolinetti adding a service ace in the winning effort.
Set 5:
The Spirit would win the fifth and final set in a back-and-forth 15-11 affair, to win the match 3-2. Keira Adrian led the way with three kills, with Wamsley adding two more kills to her total. Paolinetti, Adrian, and Wamsley each had a service ace in the winning effort, with Wamsley's service ace being the match clinching point.
Top Performers:
The Spirit had some great performances in tonight's victory. Wamsley was the game's leading scorer with 21 points, which included a game high of 17 kills, one solo block, two blocking assists, 21 digs, and two service aces. Shockey also played well with 16 points, 12 kills, one solo block, and six blocking assists. Pearce put together a great game as well with 15 points, 13 kills and four blocking assists. The Spirit also got contributions from Logan Kuehn (26 assists and four blocking assists), Paolinetti (24 assists and three service aces), Rainuad (22 digs, four service aces), Adrian (15 digs, one service ace, and one blocking assist), and Shoquist (17 digs and one service ace).
Up Next:
It's playoffs time for the Spirit as they face Benedictine on the road in the GSAC semifinals on Tuesday, November 12th (Time TBA). A Spirit win would advance them to the GSAC championship where they would either head to Santa Clarita to face the number one seed, The Master's, or they would host the number four seed, Embry Riddle, depending on the winner of that match. The GSAC Championship will be on Saturday, November 16th (Date and Time TBD).
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